Thank you delegates for participating in the 51st IEC in the City of Cebu
and thank you to all the volunteers who made this Eucharistic gathering a huge success!
We are one with the Sacrament of the Eucharist, we are one with Christ!
View the congress week talks and photos at congressupdates.iec2016.ph

Table of Hope Banquet

Friday,January1st,2016

The Table of Hope Banquet is a spiritual and social gathering for and of underprivileged families, mentally and physically challenged individuals, and children living in Cebu City, Mactan and other neighboring areas in the Province of Cebu. They will partake of a hearty meal as guests of the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church.

The Table of Hope Banquet came out of a breakfast discussion led by 2016 IEC Secretary-General Bishop Dennis Villarojo, to make the International Eucharistic Congress more meaningful to the underprivileged and to give them the opportunity to have a dignified participation in the Congress.

It reminds us of Jesus Christ feeding the multitude. It also follows the good example of Pope Francis to be compassionate, to share, to feed, to serve and to love the underprivileged.

The Table of Hope Banquet is co-hosted by the 2016 IEC, led by Bishop Dennis Villarojo, and the Archdiocese of Vancouver, led by Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB. Fr. Carmelo Diola, chairman of the Solidarity and Communion Committee of the 51st International Eucharistic Congress is the overall in-charge of the Table of Hope Banquet. Vice-Chancellor Barbara Dowding will oversee the banquet preparation for the Archdiocese of Vancouver.

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What is IEC?

A Eucharistic Congress is an international gathering of people aimed at promoting an awareness of the central place of the Eucharist in the life and mission of the Catholic Church. The Roman Ritual De Sacra Communione et de Cultu Mysterii Eucharistici extra Missam defines the Congress as “a pause for commitment and prayer to which a particular Church invites the universal Church”. During this time “the celebration of the Eucharist becomes the center and vortex of all forms of piety, of theological and pastoral reflections, of social commitment”.